Apple exploring pressure-sensitive touchscreens, touchpads

Seeking to improve its portable devices, Apple has applied for a patent that could lead to touch-sensitive Macs or handhelds which react to the level of force, rather than just contact.

Originally submitted in March of last year but only published on Thursday, the patent for a "Force Imaging Input and Device System" describes today's touchscreens and touchpads as limited by their relatively simple input, which tracks just the location of the finger or stylus on the surface. A method of detecting the strength of the user's input would add a new element of control, according to Apple.

"One drawback to using touch pads as input devices is that they do not generally provide pressure or force information," the company writes. "Force information may be used as another input dimension for purposes of providing command and control signals to an associated electronic device."

To solve the problem, the patent's inventors Brian Huppi and Steven Hotelling have suggested lining touchpads with a set of traces joined together by a sandwich-like spring membrane layer underneath the surface. Touching the pad would deform the traces and create a capacitive image in circuitry, indicating where contact has been made.

But unlike traditional capacitive or resistive touch surfaces, the membrane would help create a second image that recognizes just how much pressure has been applied at a given point; the harder the user pushes, the closer the membrane reaches conductive elements inside the layer and the more force would be registered with each press.

Though Apple's patent application primarily describes a touchpad like those used for the company's MacBook lines, one variant mentioned in the document would also allow for an LCD touchscreen with the same features, raising the possibility of an iPhone or other touch-sensitive computer with the new control scheme. Computers, phones, PDAs, and control panels are listed as candidates for the technique, although Apple is not obliged to manufacture any products using its invention.

Importantly, however, the company notes that the system would recognize more than one source of input at the same time, allowing the firm's existing multi-touch system to work with the pressure-sensitive feature intact. Apple goes so far as to reference an older patent for a "Multipoint Touch Screen," one of the cornerstones of its iPhone technology, as supporting evidence for its new control method.

they should develop a keyboard with such technology. One that would change the icons on your keys everytime you switch fonts or switch applications. This will be awesome for an ultra-thin notebook's keyboard.

they should develop a keyboard with such technology. One that would change the icons on your keys everytime you switch fonts or switch applications. This will be awesome for an ultra-thin notebook's keyboard.

I think the Optimus keyboard could do that. It's of dubious value though. Using a touch screen for a keyboard makes sense in the iPhone and iTouch because the idea was to maximize screen size and still be compact and durable. That trades tactile feel for more screen. A notebook really doesn't need to do that so much, at that point it's probably trading away too much to expect the screen to double as a keyboard, or to get a second screen that works as a keyboard (and play e-Battleship!?).

"One drawback to using touch pads as input devices is that they do not generally provide pressure or force information," the company writes. "Force information may be used as another input dimension for purposes of providing command and control signals to an associated electronic device.

To accept "press lightly"

To cancel "press harder"

To 'Force Quit' "bash screen'

I don't think I like the idea of having to know just how hard to press for the correct action to be taken or command delivered, etc. Seems like Apple's getting too artsy, fartsy with some their ideas.

Could you imagine the touch pad controls as seen on Star Trek Next Gen or other space sci-fi shows and as the crew members are at their control panels bleeping along that they also have to be sure of using the correct pressure to ensure the proper commands were correctly pressure sensitvely issued to do any of the following... "raise shields", "fire photon torpedo", "eject overheating fusion reactor core", etc. Any one of those sequences of touch commands lacking the correct amount of pressure input from the finger could spell doom and gloom!

I don't think I like the idea of having to know just how hard to press for the correct action to be taken or command delivered, etc. Seems like Apple's getting too artsy, fartsy with some their ideas.

Could you imagine the touch pad controls as seen on Star Trek Next Gen or other space sci-fi shows and as the crew members are at their control panels bleeping along that they also have to be sure of using the correct pressure to ensure the proper commands were correctly pressure sensitvely issued to do any of the following... "raise shields", "fire photon torpedo", "eject overheating fusion reactor core", etc. Any one of those sequences of touch commands lacking the correct amount of pressure input from the finger could spell doom and gloom!

it wouldn't be used for commands very often obviously, this is more for artistic value etc.

I don't think I like the idea of having to know just how hard to press for the correct action to be taken or command delivered, etc. Seems like Apple's getting too artsy, fartsy with some their ideas.
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I imagine they'd use this technology for a useful purpose, not a stupid one. Say if you're pressing an arrow of a scroll bar to navigate through these threads (or itunes libraries) and the harder you pressed, the faster it scrolled - up to a limit of course. And what about for different movie fast forward speeds on a touch remote/ipod/iphone

Thats just the first idea that came to me but I'm sure there'd be plenty of even better ones (especially for games)